Eternal Wrath: Quaking With Fear
by Mark-sv
Summary: A few days after the final fight against Doomsday, Victor Stone is on a mission to secure their achievement. (Sequel to Betrayal, One-shot.)


**In-Between Book I: Quaking With Fear**

* * *

**February 19th 2009. 01:38 PM UTC-6 (04:38 AM Local Time). Centre Spatial Guyanais, Kourou, French Guiana. **

"I assure you Monsieur Wolfman that you can trust our staff to handle their jobs correctly." The man insisted, grabbing at the set of accreditation cards hanging from his neck to keep it from swinging as the Jeep shook them.

Victor stared at him sternly from his seat at the back while gripping the handhold above his head with the right hand. "I paid two-hundred million dollars for this mission," he reminded the man. "Your DDO authorized my presence while the staff loaded my package into VEGA, of course I'll check on the process, what else should I be doing?"

His patience was thin these days. Victor Stone was a man with the weight of the world on his shoulders and the pressure set on him was particularly intense today. His presence at the French Spatial Center in South America was the last step of the plan which him and Chloe had set up in a hurry after the fiasco that had been the fight against the beast.

They had funnelled an immense amount of money to different anonymous offshore accounts from Queen Industries in order to command a mission at the Spatial Center on a very short delay. They couldn't have gone to the NASA for, the American government's presence was too deep in the organization. Instead, The Centre Spatial Guyanais, or CSG, provided them the perfect opportunity as the competition between Europe and the United States on this domain was fierce.

The fact that Victor Wolfman whom he assumed the identity was supposed to be a wealthy american businessman helped the French authorities to give him a few liberties such as using an experimental rocket and not revealing the content he wanted to load to them. In exchange, they gained a north-american client and a better reputation in his country.

Pascal Cevert, his guide at the CSG, smiled apologetically. "It is your call, sir." he said.

Victor nodded as the vehicle halted. "On est arrivés." _We're here. _The driver, a French soldier told them.

Cevert grinned at his client, extending his arm towards the spectacle in front of them. "Meet the VEGA VVA-1."

The young African-American couldn't hide his astonishment at the sigh of the huge slim rocket vertically set on its launching base. The countless light-spots covering the spacial aircraft made it glow into the night.

"Wow."

His guide laughed. "I'm glad you appreciate its beauty." he said. "It's the alpha version, the first of its kind."

"You did a marvellous job, people." Victor barely contained a whistle of awe. His technical mind couldn't help admiring the finesse of the machine's built. "Amazing."

The Frenchman at his side perked up brightly. "Thank you, sir." he looked extremely proud for a moment before sobering up. "Still, tonight will be a gamble."

"I know the risks but I signed anyway." Victor replied. "I trust your people's ingenuity." he said as charmingly as possible, trying to apply the tricks he'd picked up by watching Oliver own the show for years. The thought of his friend's name made his chest tighten. He cleared his throat and glanced at the truck pulling in reverse towards the rocket.

It stopped a few yards in front of it and a group of ten accredited workers disembarked. Among them, Victor found a familiar face he had put there for the event. AC nodded at him from afar and went to help his colleagues set a large aluminium crate in the rocket.

Victor glared at it. As wonderful as this rocket was, he couldn't wait to see it fly his package out of their lives. The sooner, the better. It was a heavy crate however. 1.280 ton of evilness wrapped into an anonymous looking box that he hoped would be a coffin for the being inside.

The operation lasted twenty minutes plus an extra five minutes to apply the security protocol. Victor's leg tapped against the metal of the jeep in stress, unable to help the anxiety filling him. Finally, after an eternity of waiting, the workers pulled the pressured gate of the rocket close, sealing the package inside. From his spot, AC gave his friend a thumbs up.

Victor sighed in relief, glancing at Cevert. "Time to go?" he asked.

"Indeed, it is." Pascal nodded. "On y va." _Let's go. _He told the driver who ignited the Jeep to life and started to drive towards the command center.

A alarm blared over the area at this instant. "Attention, le personnel présent sur le site de lancement est prié d'évacuer la zone..." _Warning, all staff on-site is asked to evacuate the perimeter. _The feminine voice of the Launch Range Manager or Directrice Des Opérations in French, shortened to 'DDO' echoed.

Pascal Cevert checked his watch. "Right on time!" he turned in his seat to talk to Victor. "Looks like you will have your launch at five o'clock sharp, Monsieur Wolfman."

Victor smiled. "Good, good..."

* * *

Inside the command center, the only people to fill the console room called 'Salle Jupiter' were the DDO and its subordinates along with Pascal Cevert and Victor 'Wolfman' who had obtained from the center to keep the operation quiet.

Victor himself had been granted full access to a specific console in case he decided to intervene in the process even though the center had put Cevert on his shoulder to keep an eye on him. They didn't know of the cyborg's competences and didn't want him to waste everything by hitting the wrong button.

Not that they had anything to worry about. For, even if the usual tension had built inside Jupiter as like at every launch, Victor was silently subject to a greater stress than any of them. He couldn't fail or things could cost them all dearly. The true importance of this mission was solely known to him and the League but should anything go the wrong way and the entire planet could be at risk. This was the reason of the immense pressure he had set upon himself.

The main DDO was a young tanned woman who eyed him more than necessary from her spot at in the middle of the room. Victor smiled back when he saw the attention he was getting before he sat down in front of his console. He didn't notice the flustered DDO focus back on her job at hand as he was already calculating the moves he would have to pull in case of an emergency.

Before them, the countdown displayed on the large screen on the wall fell under one minute. Seconds later, the DDO began her sequence. "Top, H zéro moins une minute." _Top, T zero minus one minute. _she announced.

Her words sent chills down Victor's spine. This was it, the moment of truth. Around him, the engineers went silent as they studied the data printed on their screens and waited for further orders from the woman supervising the operation.

The time fell to fifteen seconds. "A tous de DDO, attention pour le décompte final." _To the DDOs, prepare forfinal countdown. _She anticipated. Five more seconds went by just as quickly and Victor wiped the beads of sweat falling down his forehead.

"10...9...8..."

They were past the point of no return he realized, his mind frozen in fear. If anything went wrong now, it would be the end.

"7...6...5...4..."

He forced himself to breathe in deeply and glanced at the screen on the wall which transmitted a live stream of the VEGA VVA-1 which was still immobile at its spot, waiting to be unleashed.

"3...2...1..." There was a pause that lasted way too long for his liking. He was about to turn around towards the DDO to see if something wasn't right when: "Top allumage moteur Vulcain... décollage!" _Top ignition Vulcain engine, take off. _There was a sense of finality in her tone which made his heart race.

Victor watched in wonder the flame blasting under the rocket in a fracas worthy of hell. The awe-inducing uproar was transmitted loudly through the video feed, adding to their stress. His eyes never left VEGA as it started to lift off from the ground, slowly at first, as if something was holding it back then, it sailed throw the air like one of Oliver's arrows.

All of Jupiter went silent, they all watched images of their rocket piercing the dark sky and going through the clouds until they enveloped it, making VEGA disappear into the atmosphere. It then switched to a 3-D computerized image of the rocket.

"La trajectoire est normale." _Trajectory is normal. _The DDO spoke up.

The cyborg let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. The tightness of his chest began to easy up slowly as his body relaxed in his chair. The hardest part was done. He glanced behind him to see Cevert grinning his way. "Congratulations Monsieur Wolfman." he whispered.

Victor nodded gratefully. "Thank you."

"La trajectoire est normale." the DDO repeated as part of the protocol.

The next minutes were uneventful and the tension in Jupiter started to lift faintly. It looked like the mission was going to be a success when things turned sour without any of them seeing it coming.

"La trajectoire est nor-" A loud clunking sound made the room freeze.

Victor's head shot up towards Cevert. "What going on?" he asked.

Pascal made a helpless gesture and the American rose from his seat, activating the microphone on his console. "DDO, report please!" he watched her.

She locked gazes with him from the other end of Jupiter. "It comes from inside the launcher, Mr. Wolfman. From the compartment room." she switched to a lightly accented english, her tone betraying at hint of anxiety.

All eyes turned to him, he swallowed hard. The noise started again and became more and more insistent. Victor knew what it was, dread paralysed him for a moment until a high-pitched whine echoed through the room.

There was no mistaking that noise and the fright it created inside of him. It was the monster. Doomsday had woken up.

Victor blinked and his mind went into auto-pilot. He pressed the microphone activation hard. "What's the altitude of the rocket? Answer now, please!" he pressed.

The DDO was taken aback by his reaction, she stammered slightly. "I, um... It has just left the atmosphere, Mr. Wolfman."

"Is the trajectory still normal?" he asked. "Is it, now? DDO?!"

"Yes.. Yes!" she confirmed.

"Okay." Victor mumbled to himself, looking over his console frantically. His eyes caught a flash of red and his fingers uncapsuled the key above which was printed: 'Séquence de destruction' ( _Destruction Sequence _).

"Monsieur, what are you doing?" Pascal Cevert stepped towards him, his eyes wide when he saw the red button unprotected.

He ignored the Frenchman and activated the sequence before he could stop him. Seconds later, the virtual rocket disappeared from the screen.

"...Le... lanceur a été neutralisé." _...The... launcher has been neutralized. _the DDO stated numbly.

Victor didn't waste a second trying to explain himself. "What's the status of the remains?"

She evaded his eyes. "They are still following the trajectory."

He exhaled a long sigh and sat back. Cevert gaped at him. "Monsieur Wolfman... you have destroyed your rocket!"

A surprising grin broke onto the young hero's face. "I know." he then turned around and spoke into his microphone to the astounded engineers staring at him as if he were crazy. "Congratulations everyone." he said. "The mission didn't go the way we wanted but it is still a success. Merci."

He then stood up and waved at the staff, slipping a few words at a frozen Cevert on the way. "I will pay the penalties, this won't be an issue."

"But... the rocket..."

"behaved wonderfully well." Victor finished. "The problem came from my package and it's been taken care of. You made a great rocket, Pascal." he smiled gently. "Thank you." he extended his hand.

Pascal shook it automatically, his eyes still wide as he watched Victor nod at him and leave the room. The double doors closed after the young man, leaving him staring after Victor and scratch his head. _Americans. _He thought.

* * *

Behind the double doors, Victor paused and took a deep breath. He then fished a cellphone out of the pocket of his suit and pressed one on his speed dial.

"It's done." he said and listened to the other end. "We're rid of it, Chloe."

* * *

**February 19th 2009. 02:10 PM UTC-6. Space. **

_We're rid of it... _

A heap of charred pieces floated in outer space close to the Earth. The remnant of VEGA VVA-1 met the tragic fate of hovering into emptiness for eternity. Alas... it was what it looked like. For, as a large piece of the rocket turned around in space, a inhuman face with two red-blood orbs looked down to the Blue Planet in rage.

The beast, the monster, The Ultimate, Doomsday. It wasn't dead, it could never be. And yet, Victor Stone was right when he said they were rid of this abomination. As powerful as Zod's child was, it couldn't control his movements in space and couldn't stop its body from drifting further into the black void of nothingness as it watched the Earth get smaller and smaller in front of its eyes.

It emitted a loud wail of frustration which went silent into the airless space. It was over for the beast. Doomsday was gone and would never come back.


End file.
